Water Break: Part Of Akron Children's Hospital Forced To Evacuate After Water Main Break

September 17, 2008 at 7:59 AM EST - Updated July 1 at 1:45 PM

Akron, OH - Developing news out of Summit County this morning.

A water main break causing problems at Akron Children's Hospital.

Part of the hospital forced to evacuate after several inches of water flooded the building on the ground floor late Tuesday afternoon.

No patient care areas were directly affected, but power has been shut off to protect the entire building until it can be thoroughly dried.

The staff shut down the power to the data center and the entire building for safety reasons, and the power is likely to remain down until sometime today. The standing water has been pumped out of the building.

The Considine Building will be closed Wednesday, and the hospital is contacting patients to cancel appointments to the subspecialty offices located in the building. These include cardiology, endocrinology, pulmonology, neurology, developmental-behavioral pediatrics, adoptive health, maternal fetal medicine, endocrinology, orthopedics, sports medicine, and sports rehabilitation. Akron Children's staff members are currently contacting patients who can be seen at hospital's other locations.

Akron Children's Hospital's Emergency Room will remain open, and the hospital is accepting all transports. Patients scheduled for appointments in the Considine Building who feel they need to be seen should call their primary care physician or come to the Emergency Room.